October 22nd- National Day Of Protest Against Police Brutality

Today is an important political day for numerous reasons. In addition to the last presidential debate, October 22nd is a day of protest against the deep rooted problem of police brutality. The October 22nd coalition began in 1996, and has continued to highlight incidents of police brutality, high-profile or not. A sad testament to this ongoing issue, is the Stolen Lives Project. It is a book listing 2000 names of people who were killed by law enforcement.

As time has passed, the coalition has taken more firm stands. Namely, in terms of Stop and Frisk and Mass Incarceration. In a recent statement in support of the day of protest, activist Carl Dix cites well known yet nonetheless disturbing statistics. “Close to 2.4 million people are warehoused in prisons in the U.S.” said Dix. Mass incarceration has become part of the lexicon of the activist community to describe the process of increased imprisonment for even non violent offenses. So pervasive is it’s negative impact on Black life in America, that it is referred to as “The New Jim Crow”

This predicament among others need not be pushed under the rug, whether official electoral politics will deal with it or not. To find out more about this day of protest, visit the webpage of the October 22nd coalition.

7 thoughts on “October 22nd- National Day Of Protest Against Police Brutality”

Just wondering is there a Day for all the police officers that are killed or maimed in the line of duty, I knew an officer Cecil Frank Sledge who was shot and dragged by the car he pulled over he was only Age: 35
Tour: 12 years
Badge # 4438
Cause: Gunfire
Incident Date: 1/28/1980
Weapon: Handgun; .38 caliber
Suspect: Sentenced to 25 years to life

Actually Glenn, there is a national law enforcement memorial based in Washington D.C. to commemorate all of the officers killed in the line of duty. Here is the link for that organization. NLEOMF

Now with that question out of the way, I wonder why you would raise this in a post about police brutality. It wouldn’t be to point away from the wrongdoings of law enforcement that the October 22nd Coalition is focusing on, would it?

People inevitably bring up how dangerous it is to be a police officer whenever the topic of police brutality and killing by law enforcement comes up. However, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, year after year, the reality is quite different. Retail workers, for example, have a much greater chance of being killed on the job than cops.

And in fact, if you go to those “Officer Down”-type websites, you’ll find that a very large percentage of law enforcement who die in the line of duty die from accidents. I just counted out of 100 officers listed at ODMP, 39 died either of heart attacks, falls, or vehicular accidents.

When you compare this data to the Stolen Lives book (and its follow-ups) referenced above, it becomes clear that the brutality visited by the police upon communities across the US, particularly communities of color, is incredibly one-sided. Yet police and their apologists like to repeat the myth that their jobs are so dangerous, because it serves at least two purposes: It covers over their own brutality by promoting the factually false notion that they’re “putting their lives on the line,” and it promotes the idea that the communities that they routinely brutalize are inherently violent and in need of an iron fist to keep them under control.

In New York there are about 34000 Officers serving a 8-10 million population, when an officer is accused of anything it is taken very seriously if you wish to believe that or not, and at the end of the day an officer wants nothing more than to go home an be with his or her family, officers are just people like you and me, and if there is a few that step over the line they are dealt with harshly. Generally when officers make an arrest the alleged criminal will show resistance, the officer has the authority given to them by it’s citizens to subdue with whatever force deemed necessary. The officers are not there to pass judgement, only to make the arrest and let the system do the rest. If you are interested you can take the “Police Academy Civilian training program” just step into your local precinct and speak to the community affairs officer http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/community_affairs/community_participation_programs.shtml .

It’s one evening a week for 14 weeks, you will get a snapshot of what it takes to be an officer and the many positive things they do to keep our city safe and a better place to live.

Pretty incredible that you can just dismiss the lives and futures of the 2.4 million people currently warehoused in prison, Glenn. Are all of them “criminals who showed resistance” when they were arrested?? Are you going to include teenagers who get stopped all the time by racist policies like Stop and Frisk, or the children they are holding in ICE facilities at the border in that blanket statement intended to criminalize our youth? Do you think that Aiyana Stanley-Jones, a SEVEN YEAR OLD that was killed when the cops raided the wrong house, do you think that she was a criminal??? As you said, officers actually are NOT “just people like you and me,” they are authorities, with the power of the state backing whatever they do- including outright brutality and murder.

And please don’t try to convince me that the state comes down hard on officers that do murder people, cause that is a straight-up load of BS. How much time did Mehserle serve in jail after he straight up EXECUTED Oscar Grant? Let me answer that, he was in jail for a grand total of a month! WTF!? And that wouldn’t have even happened if people had not risen up, and demanded justice. And Darren Wilson, the cop who murdered Mike Brown, has STILL not seen the inside of a jail cell, even in the face of defiant and righteous resistance of people in Ferguson. There’s so many examples of the police getting away with murder, that it amounts to a slow genocide of Black and brown people.